Casting Announced For Clarke Peters’ Production Of Hit West End & Broadway Musical Five Guys Named Moe

Underbelly Productions have announced full casting for a brand new production of Clarke Peters’ Olivier Award-winning and Tony-Award nominated musical, Five Guys Named Moe. The production will open on 14 September 2017 in a new temporary theatre in Marble Arch, London.

Nomax is down on his luck. Newly single and broke, he drinks his sorrows away. But in a wild night that he’ll never forget, Five Guys Named Moe – Big Moe, Little Moe, Eat Moe, Know Moe and Four-Eyed Moe – are on hand to help him party his way back to the straight and narrow.

Underbelly have also released the first look at how the inside of the new Marble Arch Theatre will look. Specifically designed for the production will be reminiscent of 1940s New Orleans Jazz clubs, occupying the whole space. There will be cabaret table seating in the centre of the space with a drinks table service.

In addition to the theatre, there will be a connecting foyer designed in the style of a New Orleans courtyard with hanging atmospheric foliage, festoon lighting, a beautiful bespoke bar, a performance area for a jazz trio and concession stands selling popcorn, sweets, snacks and merchandise as well as a cloakroom area.

Five Guys Named Moe was first seen at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1990, it transferred to the West End and played for four years, subsequently playing on Broadway from 1992. Clarke Peters’ career defining musical features the irresistible hits of trailblazing ‘King of the Jukebox’ Louis Jordan, including Early In The Morning, Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby, Choo Choo Ch’Boogie and Saturday Night Fish Fry. The soundtrack of soul, blues, gospel and early r ‘n’ b is performed on stage by a live band.

Clarke Peters said: “It’s a rare and wonderful thing to have the chance to direct a show that not only you have created but also performed in. It’s a show that is very close to my heart and soul and is so much of who I am. It’s an honour to return to it on its 25th Anniversary and reimagine the show in this new theatre space; one which is perfect for creating a closeness and dynamic energy between the story and the audience. Further to this it’s a treat to be working with a fantastic creative team and I can’t wait to transport audiences into the magical world of rhythm and blues. This rhythm will lift one and all from their blues!”

Clarke Peters has a long-established and wide-ranging career in theatre, television, radio and film. His many stage credits include: King Lear (Shakespeare in the Park), Race, Chicago, The Iceman Cometh (New York), Guys and Dolls, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Mourning Becomes Electra (National Theatre), Porgy and Bess (Savoy Theatre), Driving Miss Daisy, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Little Shop of Horrors, Blues in the Night and Five Guys Named Moe also written by Clarke. Films include:Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer, Notting Hill, Mona Lisa, Bad Education, Marley and Me, Freedomland, The Benefactor, Endgame, Mandela: The Prison Years and Nativity! Peters is also known for his varied television career including regular appearances in The Wire, Tremé, Jericho, The Divide, Chance and The Corner.